Practice Session, 03.09.2026

After class last week, I updated our track-laying pattern a bit, and focused on some turns and uneven terrain. In class we talked about knowing our dog's dominant side and Quinn is definitely right-handed, so today both of our turns were to the left. 

That didn't seem to pose any challenge for him, though! He's such a good dog.

Weather conditions:

• Temperature: 55° F 
• Wind: 0 MPH
• Humidity: 99%
• Overall: Sunny, warming up quickly

 Track 1: Laid 9:56 AM, Run 10:04 AM 

In keeping with our tracks from class, I set up as follows: start article with food inside at the flag. Scuff 10, walk 15 with food drop at 7. Repeat till the turn. I put a flag about 5 steps before the turn (usually I use landmarks but today I was trying to fit in as much as possible before it got any hotter so I used a 'warning' flag like we did in class. Hope that's okay?!)  I scuffed 10 after the turn then resumed the W15FD7 pattern, similar to our second class track from last week. I don't think this pattern is terribly challenging for him but since I wanted to make sure we were super clear on how turning works, it seemed like enough for today. 

 

Track 2: Laid 10:10 AM, Run 10:18 AM

For our second track I kept the same pattern but tried to get us out into the rougher part of the field so he could work across some 'stickier' cover. (Still working on locating a practice opportunity with actual furrows). He had a water break before I started filming and he's doing really well with drinking any time water is offered. One would not expect chicken-chunk-infused water to be such a motivator but apparently he loves it. 

 

Three things Quinn did well:

1. I love how excited he is to start, but even when he's very keen to get to the flag, he is all business once I ask him to track. 
2. The longer distance between food drops today seemed to not bother him in the least. I feel like he's gaining confidence even with less food to reinforce his behavior. 
3. He worked out the turns very quickly. I tried to wait until he was really oriented in the new direction and pulling, and he didn't make me wait very long!

Three things to improve:

1. We practiced lie-down games a lot at home while he was recovering, but I'm not sure he's generalized that behavior entirely to actual tracking. He was definitely starting to lay down, but I still cued him to hopefully help him understand that he needs to do that more quickly/crisply. We'll keep working on it.
2. Some of our Tuesday class patterns were longer between food drops; and that didn't seem to be a challenge, so maybe moving up to W20FD10 (I think that was track 1 in class) next time out. 
3. He seems to get better every time out, so I guess just giving him more opportunities to get out and follow his nose! (I am trying to balance practice time with not overtiring/stressing him out, especially in the sudden warm weather, but so far he seems to be handling it well. We go back to the vet for more testing next Monday but it seems like everything is trending the right way for now.)